"Europeans for Safe Connections" call for protection of children against microwave radiation and addiction to wireless devices
In some European countries, June 1 is a celebration for our beloved children. On Children's Day parents are reminded to give their most beloved beings love, tenderness, attention, care for their rights, needs and provide them with a safe and healthy environment to live in.
The human body is an ecosystem of trillions of cells acting through biological, chemical and electrical processes. We are often exposed on daily basis to an environment very rich in various sources of radifrequency electromagnetic fields (RF EMF) – radiation that interfere with the bodily electrochemical processes.
Current scientific research has already proved adverse health and biological effects of RF EMF, not only those arising from tissue heating. We can mention cellular oxidative stress, adverse effects on the reproductive system of women and men, fetal development, the nervous system, the blood and cardiovascular systems or the immune system.
Babies encounter unlimited exposure to RF EMF even before birth. Published research has identified impaired communication skills, memory and learning disorders, lower fetal development scores, congenital heart defects, increased hyperactivity and behaviour problems associated with prenatal exposure to electromagnetic fields, including maternal cell phone using. Increasingly, we can see toddlers holding smartphones or tablets in their strollers and watching videos or playing simple games through the wireless connection.
Children are indeed the most vulnerable group. They absorb much more radiation than adults due to their fragile and tiny body structure and higher brain and body tissue conductivity. The children's organism undergoes development almost to adulthood and needs the appropriate environmental conditions for healthy development. Many medical reasearchers refer to The Precautionary Principle and recommend that exposure to RF EMF´s should be minimized and the introduction of wireless technologies to children should be as late as possible.
Experts in child psychology also warn against addiction to digital technologies and refer to screens as digital drugs. It is common to see a young children on the street or in a park almost in a trance glued to a glowing screen. Studies focusing on changes in the brain show that digital media affect the frontal cortex, which controls executive functions, including impulse control. Excessive screen use disconnects children from basic needs such as getting fresh air, doing sports, and meeting friends face-to-face. They do not get dopamine, the "feel-good" chemical, the natural way when they can easily get it by watching screens. A number of clinical studies show that ubiquitous screens increase depression, sleep disturbances, anxiety and aggression, and can even lead to psychotic conditions.
The effects of RF EMF are often compared to pollutants such as tobacco smoke, asbestos or radon. According to the International Agency for Research on Cancer, non-ionising RF EMF could possibly be carcinogenic to humans. Increasingly, there is evidence of a cumulative cocktail effect on a human organism exposed to different types of such environmental pollutants.
Education about the potential health risks and protecting the unborn, infants, children and adolescents from exposure to RF EMF radiation are probably the only responsible way to protect our loved ones.
Let's celebrate this beautiful day with your loved ones and give your children an important gift – protect their health from the adverse effects of wireless technologies and teach them how they can protect themselves. Let's make a small concession from our comfort zone and limit the use of wireless technology around children and pregnant women, because we love our children and we don't want to hurt others either.
Since the beginning of my more than 20 years of experience in the field of information and communication technologies, I have been promoting wired connectivity because it contributes to a higher level of security and, above all, health protection compared to wireless connectivity.
(Updated in January 2023: Researchers from the University of North Carolina have found that teens who are habitually checking their social media are showing these pretty dramatic changes in the way their brains are responding, which could potentially have long-term consequences well into adulthood.
“The findings suggest that children who grow up checking social media more often are becoming hypersensitive to feedback from their peers,” said Eva Telzer, a professor in UNC-Chapel Hill’s psychology and neuroscience department and a corresponding author.
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